Beetles of Britain and Ireland, Volume 3 Geotrupidae to Scraptiidae

Flora / Fauna Identification Key

Series: Beetles of Britain and Ireland Volume: 3

By: Andrew G Duff(Author)

670 pages, 79 plates with 473 colour photos; b/w photos, b/w line drawings

Publisher: A.G. Duff Publishing

NHBS

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Beetles of Britain and Ireland, Volume 3

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ISBN: 9780957334724 Hardback Jul 2020 In stock
£109.00
#200647

Price: £109.00

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About this book

Volume 3 covers a large number of families which exhibit a wide range of morphologies and ways of life, including the familiar dor beetles, stag beetles, dung beetles and chafers, jewel beetles, click beetles, glow-worms, soldier beetles, chequered beetles, ladybirds, darkling beetles, false blister beetles, oil beetles and cardinal beetles.

Volume 3 features:
- keys to 1088 species in 69 families, with family and genus introductions;
- detailed species notes including supporting characters, habitat, phenology, distribution and abundance;
- a bibliography;
- 79 colour plates with 473 photographs of selected species;
- and an index to scientific and English names.

Families in this volume:
Geotrupidae (dor beetles)
Trogidae (hide beetles)
Lucanidae (stag beetles)
Scarabaeidae (scarab beetles, dung beetles and chafers)
Eucinetidae (plate-thigh beetles)
Clambidae (fringe-winged beetles)
Scirtidae (marsh beetles)
Dascillidae (soft-bodied plant beetles)
Buprestidae (jewel beetles)
Byrrhidae (pill beetles)
Elmidae (riffle beetles)
Dryopidae (long-toed water beetles)
Limnichidae (minute marsh-loving beetles)
Heteroceridae (variegated mud-loving beetles)
Psephenidae (water penny beetles)
Ptilodactylidae (ptilodactylid beetles)
Eucnemidae (false click beetles)
Throscidae (throscid beetles)
Elateridae (click beetles)
Drilidae (false firefly beetles)
Lycidae (net-winged beetles)
Lampyridae (glow-worms)
Cantharidae (soldier beetles)
Derodontidae (tooth-necked fungus beetles)
Dermestidae (skin beetles)
Bostrichidae (auger beetles)
Ptinidae (anobiid and spider beetles)
Lymexylidae (ship-timber beetles)
Phloiophilidae (phloiophilid beetles)
Trogossitidae (trogossitid beetles)
Thanerocleridae (false chequered beetles)
Cleridae (chequered beetles)
Melyridae (soft-winged flower beetles)
Byturidae (fruitworm beetles)
Sphindidae (cryptic slime-mould beetles)
Biphyllidae (false skin beetles)
Erotylidae (pleasing fungus beetles)
Monotomidae (root-eating beetles)
Cryptophagidae (silken fungus beetles)
Silvanidae (silvanid beetles)
Cucujidae (flat bark beetles)
Phalacridae (shining flower beetles)
Laemophloeidae (line flat bark beetles)
Kateretidae (short-winged flower beetles)
Nitidulidae (sap beetles)
Bothrideridae (bothriderid beetles)
Cerylonidae (cerylonid beetles)
Alexiidae (alexiid beetles)
Endomychidae (handsome fungus beetles)
Coccinellidae (ladybirds)
Corylophidae (corylophid beetles)
Latridiidae (mould beetles)
Mycetophagidae (hairy fungus beetles)
Ciidae (ciid beetles)
Tetratomidae (polypore fungus beetles)
Melandryidae (false darkling beetles)
Mordellidae (tumbling flower beetles)
Ripiphoridae (ripiphorid beetles)
Zopheridae (zopherid beetles)
Tenebrionidae (darkling beetles)
Oedemeridae (false blister beetles)
Meloidae (blister beetles)
Mycteridae (mycterid beetles)
Pythidae (dead-log beetles)
Pyrochroidae (cardinal beetles)
Salpingidae (narrow-waisted bark beetles)
Anthicidae (ant-like flower beetles)
Aderidae (ant-like leaf beetles)
Scraptiidae (false flower beetles)

Customer Reviews (2)

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A superb effort, but with some initial negatives.
By Graham 7 Aug 2020 Written for Hardback

I have no doubt that this substantial guide, weighing in at nearly four pounds, and at £109 the most expensive book I have ever bought, will turn out to be exceedingly useful and a quick look reveals a huge amount of clear text and good line drawings. However, the first things that hit me are three significant negatives!

Firstly, no key to the 69 families is included. For that, you need to buy Vol 1 of the series, another £90 or so which I have no intention of doing. That was quite a shock! Mr Duff suggested in a recent interview with NHBS that most people will soon get to know the families, so will not need a key! Really?

Second, for the money, I would have expected the photos to be much better. Both the general definition and colour reproduction are lack-lustre. For example, shouldn’t the colours on a Seven-Spot Ladybird look bright, and doesn’t Agrypnus murinus have elytral striae? Hard to tell from the photos.

Finally, in the Introduction there is an inexplicable and unwarranted swipe at Joy’s Practical Handbook of British Beetles (1932), apparently blaming it for the unpopularity of these particular beetle families. He says this despite the fact he apparently owes his beetling life to Joy. In the NHBS interview, he said of his youth “Once I had my own copy of Joy there was no stopping me. I started finding beetles and was able to identify most of them.” The fact is that many species in these families are relatively small, non-descript and obscure, hence their unpopularity. Joy is still highly useful, and combined with modern sources and check-lists provides a fast and cost-effective route for an amateur to identify most UK beetles, particularly if from unfamiliar families.

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A masterpiece, in terms of both text and figures!
By James 11 Sep 2020 Written for Hardback

An authoritative treatment of the whole of the British Coleoptera has been long overdue. Considering the length of time that a multiplicity of authors have been contributing to the Royal Entomological Society Handbooks series (with very many gaps still remaining), it's pretty remarkable what one man has been able to achieve in less than a decade. I personally find the text in this volume very approachable, and a majority of the whole insect figures quite breathtaking. Criticisms? Firstly, let's see if anyone can do better than Mr. Duff! I have my doubts..

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Flora / Fauna Identification Key

Series: Beetles of Britain and Ireland Volume: 3

By: Andrew G Duff(Author)

670 pages, 79 plates with 473 colour photos; b/w photos, b/w line drawings

Publisher: A.G. Duff Publishing

NHBS

Read our Q&A with Andrew Duff

Media reviews

"[...] A total of 69 families is covered in this volume, including [...] families comprised predominantly of small to minute, generally dull-coloured species that are notoriously difficult to identify [...]. For these latter families in particular, this is the first time that up-to-date accounts of all British species have been available in a single volume. Previously we have had to rely on a plethora of books and papers, which were sometimes difficult to obtain and often not in English; all these can now be relegated to the back of the filing cabinet. [...] This book is very well produced, with a substantial hardback and additional dust cover, which should prove very robust. It may seem a minor point to some, but to me an outstanding advantage of these books is that one can open them at a particular page, lay them on the desk and they will stay open. In contrast, for softbacks I find I have to keep my hand on the book to stop it snapping shut; an impossible task when focusing a microscope with one hand and manipulating a specimen with the other. The author always said that it was his intention to produce good-quality hardbacks and this was definitely the correct decision, even if it does mean that the price is slightly higher; these books are an investment for life. [...] . Anyone interested in identifying and studying beetles simply cannot afford to be without them and any quibbles can only be minor. Andrew cannot be too highly commended for his diligence and hard work to make so much information available to all."

– Richard Wright, British Wildlife 32(5), April 2021

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